The Owner Built Home & Homestead
(Page 10 of 23)
My final example of the ways in which modern dwellings fail
in integrating house to site has to do with view. When one
is fortunate enough to have a site with a dramatic
outlook—especially to the south or east—the
natural inclination is to orient all the major rooms toward
that direction, and to use glass in as much of the
view—wall as structurally feasible. A house so
constructed speaks to me of arrogance and greedy
self-importance. At best the end result is unpleasant and
distracting,
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On the matter of view, we can learn much from Japanese
builders. (Readers of this book will find frequent
reference to Oriental architectural features. I have long
felt that the traditional Eastern forms have more to offer
the modern-day owner-builder than most of our up-to-date
source materials.) A general practice among the Japanese is
to place the house so that the same view is never seen from
more than one vantage point—except in instances where
the second view presents a contrasting element not seen by
the first. In my own design work, I try to achieve a
sequence of outlooks—from entry into the front yard
and entry into the house, to a final view stepping onto the
outdoor terrace. The owner-builder should investigate the
prospects for varieties of outlook, and perhaps employ some
of the many devices for enhancing it. One good idea is to
develop a contrasting element between the long view (such
as a distant mountain range) and short view, the
garden-patio. Again, it is unpleasant to view something
perpendicularly through glass. The Japanese stay clear of
picture-like impressions by off-setting the center-of-view
interest, and by creating hidden, around-the-corner vistas.
In his book, Japanese House and Garden, Dr. Jiro
Harada gives the final word on view when he tells what
Rikyu, a famed Japanese tea-master, did more than 360 years
ago to give his garden deep spiritual significance:
When his new tea-room and garden were completed at Sakai he
invited a few of his friends to a tea ceremony for the
house warming. Knowing the greatness of Rikyu, the guests
naturally expected to find some ingenious design for his
garden which would make the best use of the sea, the house
being on the slope of a hill. But when they arrived they
were amazed to find that a number of large evergreen trees
had been planted on the side of the garden, evidently to
obstruct the view of the sea. They were at a loss to
understand the meaning of this. Later when the time came
for the guests to enter the tea-room, they proceeded one by
one over the stepping-stones in the garden to the stone
water-basin to rinse their mouths and wash their hands, a
gesture of symbolic cleansings, physically and mentally,
before entering the tea-room. Then it was found that when a
guest stooped to scoop out a dipperful of water from the
water-basin, only in that humble posture was he suddenly
able to get a glimpse of the shimmering sea in the distance
by way of an opening through the trees, thus making him
realize the relationship between the dipperful of water in
his hand and the great ocean beyond, and also enabling him
to recognize his own position in the universe; he was thus
brought into a correct relationship with the infinite.
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